


Wake Me Up

by orphan_account



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, hidekane, literally all fluff, well maybe a little bit of sadness eventually but
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-03-21 03:54:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3676401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So the title has almost nothing to do with the book, other than the beginning. Basically, Kaneki is an android/artificial life-type thing, an experiment. Hide is one of the scientists working on him. It kind of explains itself as it goes along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's not that good, but oh well. I haven't decided if it'll have a second chapter or not, so stay tuned, and stuff.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the floating boy wakes up. Hurrah.

The boy floated, suspended in the blue liquid that kept him alive. Tubes snaked from several parts of his body. He didn’t react to anything, never uncurling from the cramped position he was forced into, thanks to the relatively small tank.

Hide watched the boy, absentmindedly running his fingers through his long blond hair. He was one of the scientists working on the experiment - which was the boy. The first artificial life. They had done everything they could, but nobody could tell when - or if - he would ever wake.

He was the same age as the boy, actually. Still, it was hard to think of the boy with an age. He looked so young, not having yet experienced anything the world had to offer. Sometimes Hide wished he could be like that. Innocent, clueless, content to float there forever.

“You’re lucky, you know,” Hide said, to break the silence. Although he’d never admit it, he talked to the boy often. He always tried to be upbeat, but it felt okay to drop his guard around the boy. Hide told him every one of his secrets, like a lot of people did with animals. He trusted that the boy would never tell them, mostly because he knew that the boy would probably never awaken. “You don’t have to deal with any of this. You get to sit there all day, doing nothing.”

He looked up when someone knocked on the door. It was Nishio-sempai, looking as if he had just eaten something sour. Hide knew from experience that that was his normal expression. Nishio-sempai was actually nice, once you got to know him. Well, not nice, exactly, but not as much of an asshole. “We’re closing up.” Nishio-sempai warned him. Hide started to thank him, but the door had already been closed again.

“That’s so rude, sempai!” Hide yelled jokingly, but he got no response. He shrugged to himself and started to pack up his things. He mumbled a goodbye to the boy without really thinking about it, and left the room.

He made it all the way to the parking lot before he realized he couldn't find his keys. He patted his pockets, confused, before he remembered that they must be back in the experiment room. He turned, and started to sprint for the lab’s doors. From the outside, it just looked like another inconspicuous government building. No one outside the employees knew what went on inside.

“Hold the door!” He shouted to Touka-chan, another scientist that worked there. She looked up from her phone, startled, and just managed to catch the door before it closed. She yelled at Hide as he passed, but he ignored it and gasped out his thanks.

Hide leaned against the wall, panting. He took about a solid minute to catch his breath. Touka-chan rolled her eyes and tossed him a set of keys, telling him to lock up for her. Then she left, and he was alone in the darkened building.

 _This is kinda creepy_ , Hide thought to himself. Lone scientist in a dark lab. It was usually the start of sci-fi movies.

That scientist always died first.

 _Stop that_ , he told himself. In those movies, they were dissecting aliens, not trying to create artificial life. It wasn’t like Frankenstein, either. They weren't sewing a bunch of body parts together.

When he got to the room, he noticed that something felt different. Maybe it was just that he had never noticed that the mystery liquid in the tank glowed. With the lights on, you couldn't see that. It wasn’t until he stooped to grab his keys from the floor that he realized what was off.

The boy’s eyes were open.

Hide froze, staring at the boy. The boy stared back, making no movements other than the occasional blink. A million and one thoughts raced through Hide’s head at that moment, the most prominent one being, _shit shit I've told him everything shit_. His second most prominent thought was, _what do I do now?_

He broke off eye contact, opening his bag and fumbling for his phone. When he looked up, the boy was watching him with curious eyes, his mouth moving. No audible words came out, but he seemed to actually be trying to communicate.

“H-hang on,” Hide said, not sure if the boy could even understand him. “We’re gonna get you out in a sec.” He dialed Yoshimura-san’s number, hoping that, as the lead scientist on this project, he would know what to do.

On the third ring, Yoshimura-san picked up. “Nagachika-kun?” Hide heard the old man say. “What’s going on?”

“The boy is - he’s-”

“Awake?” Yoshimura-san finished Hide’s sentence. Hide heard a creak, and he figured that the scientist was standing up. “For how long?”

“I don’t know. I came back in to grab my keys, and his eyes were open.” Hide started to calm down, although his heart and mind were still racing.

“I’ll be right over! Keep an eye on him!” There were several crashing noises, and then Yoshimura-san hung up.

Hide sat down in front of the tank, not knowing what else to do. “Yoshimura-san is coming,” he reassured the boy, feeling quite silly. “You’ll be out of there soon.” The boy only blinked in response. Hide sighed, wondering once more what this would mean for him.

Once Yoshimura-san arrived, the relatively calm environment dissolved into chaos. He had brought with him the entire team of scientists, who flocked curiously around the boy. Hide had a sudden urge to push them all back, to protect the thing that wasn’t even, strictly speaking, human. He pushed it down, knowing it wouldn’t do any good.

Touka-chan and Nishio-sempai started to check the boy’s vitals, messing with the funny machinery he was hooked up to. Yoshimura-san beckoned Hide over, and together they removed the top of the tank and started to pull away the tubes. “We need to see how he responds to oxygen,” Yoshimura-san explained.

In a matter of minutes they had the boy out, a lab coat draped over his naked body. He had to be supported by Hide, since he had never really used his legs before. Hide moved calmly, although his heart was slamming against his ribs in frenzied anticipation, and adrenaline poured through his veins. This was it. From now on, the experiment was entirely unpredictable.

The boy was taking deep breaths, gazing at them all in turn with wide eyes. Hide noticed that his eyes were multicolored - one was brown, the other red. The left one must not have gotten enough pigmentation, for it to appear red like that.

“Are you alright?” Hide asked the boy, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be able to answer. The boy opened his mouth, but all that came out was an unintelligible string of noises.

“Stop that! He could damage his vocal cords!” Touka-chan snapped. Hide nodded, feeling stupid, even though there was no possible way he could have known that. Not in all the excitement, not with no medical training.

 

As it turned out, Hide took the boy home. Yoshimura-san had said that he needed to be observed in a common environment, and Hide had spent the most time with him. So, they had found some spare clothing, dressed him, and taken him to Hide’s car. The boy stayed mute the entire time, gazing at the world with wondering eyes.

He had stared at the car apprehensively, but Hide had reassured him. He had had to buckle the boy into the car himself, but at the very least, the boy hadn’t fought.

Until the car started.

The boy had jumped, and tried to unbuckle himself. Hide had had to stop him. He tried to reassure him, but he had still struggled to reach the belt. It was then that Hide found that petting his hair was a good solution. He relaxed, staring at Hide with those multicolored eyes. His hair turned out to be soft, albeit damp. It was dark, which contrasted greatly with his pale skin. Hide found he rather liked the way it looked.

 _Stop that_ , he scolded himself. He managed to get the car into Drive and head off without many incidents - although if he ever went too fast, the boy would panic and try to open the door (luckily, Hide had locked it beforehand).

“Do you want to listen to music?” He asked, and then realized that even if the boy could understand him, he wouldn’t know what music was. He shrugged to himself and turned the radio on, flicking through channels until he found one that didn’t have many ads. It was one of his favorites, as it played nearly nonstop pop music. He sang along to it quite loudly, which caused the boy to stare at him. He made a noise that sounded almost quizzical.

Then he reached for the radio.

Hide almost stopped him, but then realized he could take notes on this. He watched as the boy messed with the buttons and dials, changing stations until he found one he seemed to like. Unfortunately, it was classical music, which Hide didn’t really like. And, when he tried to change it, the boy changed it right back. Hide decided to just suffer through it, since it seemed to make the boy happy.

When they got to Hide’s apartment, the boy insisted on unbuckling by himself. He managed to do it, and then unlock the door and walk forward, although Hide hovered by his side the entire time. When he tripped on the steps, Hide was right there to catch him. “One step at a time,” he chided.

 

The boy seemed to like Hide’s apartment. He stood in the doorway, staring at it in wonder. He also had, if Hide wasn’t mistaken, a rather timid expression. Hide laughed, gesturing for him to walk inside. “It’s nothing much, but it’s home.”

It was a rather modest place. A bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. They stood in the living room, which was overflowing with miscellaneous items. Clothing thrown haphazardly over chairs, trash on the floor (not much, but enough to make it look messy), etc. Hide guided the boy over to the lone couch in the middle of the room. He flopped down, resting his feet on the table, one of the only clean surfaces. He grabbed the remote, turning the TV on out of habit.

He glanced over at the boy. “You’re probably hungry, aren’t you?” He started to stand up, then froze. What exactly did you feed artificial life? The same kind of food as normal?

The boy nodded. Hide continued into the kitchen, opening the fridge to look for something edible. It took him a moment to realize that the boy had understood him - and responded. Well, he had nodded, at least. He practically flew back into the living room, where the boy still sat, transfixed by the TV.

“You can understand me?”

The boy looked back at him. “Y-yes.” The word was quietly, barely there, and it took him a few tries to get it right, but he _spoke_.

“That’s great!” Hide’s enthusiasm seemed to catch the boy off-guard. He flinched slightly. Hide mentally took note of that. He would have to be careful about loud noises. “So, uh, do you have any food preferences?” He wasn’t entirely sure if the boy knew what food was, but it was worth a shot.

The boy shook his head, so Hide went back into the kitchen. Ramen it was. He nearly made curry, but decided at the last moment that it would probably be too spicy.

When he brought it back to the boy, the boy seemed confused about what to do with it. “You eat it,” Hide tried to explain, but all he received for his efforts was a blank stare. To demonstrate, he took a bite. The boy followed his example, then spit it back out, his face red.

“Oh, yeah, it’s probably pretty hot,” Hide said, chuckling. The boy stared at the ramen, mistrust evident in his gaze. After a minute, Hide rolled his eyes and said, “It’s probably okay now.” He took another bite. The boy warily did the same.

“So, you’re gonna need a name,” Hide said, setting his bowl down. He couldn’t just refer to him as ‘the boy’ forever. The boy continued eating, although his eyes never left Hide’s. “Mine is Hideyoshi Nagachika, by the way, but you can just call me Hide.”

The boy nodded. “Hide.” He said, as if testing out the sound.

Hide tapped his finger against his chin, thinking. “How about something like… Kaneki?”

The boy - now named Kaneki - nodded. “Kaneki,” he said, as if he were agreeing. He seemed almost proud.

Hide grinned, throwing a nearby blanket over them. He picked the remote back up, turning on Netflix. He chose to watch 3rd Rock From The Sun. It kind of fit the situation.

Kaneki snuggled close to Hide, using the blonde's shoulder as a pillow. “Warm,” he explained. Hide nodded, fighting the scarlet blush that was creeping onto his face. Kaneki just wanted warmth, nothing more. Looking down at him, Hide noticed that Kaneki was holding his chin, possibly subconsciously.

About halfway through the third episode, Kaneki looked up. “You seem uncomfortable,” he noted. He struggled with the words, but managed to get them out. “Why?”

“It’s, uh, people don’t normally sit this close.” He explained. “Not unless they’re intimate.”

Kaneki tilted his head. “Intimate?”

“You know, like…” He stopped himself, realizing Kaneki didn’t know. “In love.”

“Love?”

“Feeling really close to each other. Emotionally.”

Kaneki shrugged and rested his head on Hide’s shoulder once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hide asks Touka-chan for a favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like continuing it, so here we are. I may have slightly butchered characters, and I apologize for that.
> 
> There is slight cursing in the beginning, but other than that, this chapter is clean.

Once Kaneki was asleep, Hide pulled out his phone and called Yoshimura-san. Now that a good few hours had passed, it was probably best to update him on how Kaneki was adapting. Yoshimura-san picked up quickly. He had probably been waiting for Hide’s call.

“How is he?” Yoshimura-san spoke before Hide could. “Is he alright?”

“Yeah, he’s fine.” Hide said, glancing down at Kaneki. He spoke quietly, trying not to wake him. It must have been a tiring day. “He’s adapting rather quickly. He already knows enough of the language to have a basic conversation, and all of his senses have developed well.”

“Can he eat? Walk?” Yoshimura-san persisted.

“He can do both,” Hide reassured him. He was slightly surprised by Yoshimura-san’s worry, but he guessed it was normal, since the older man had spent a lot of time working towards this. When Kaneki shifted beside him, he lowered his voice and waited a couple seconds before continuing. “I haven’t tried to give him a big meal, just ramen. As for his walking, he still needs a little help on the stairs, and with long-distance, but he’s doing pretty good.”

He heard a sigh of relief on the other end. “Alright, well, be careful with him. And don’t let him stay up too late.” “Got it,” Hide said cheerfully, saluting. Sure, Yoshimura-san couldn’t see the salute, but it was the thought that counted.

He hung up, then checked the clock. 23:05. Great. His next shift at Big Girl started in approximately seven hours. Along with the experiment, he had also taken up a part-time job to pay the bills. The experiment, since the people funding them had almost completely lost interest, didn’t pay much.

He glanced over at Kaneki, wondering what to do about him. He wasn’t exactly sure if it would be safe to leave him alone in the apartment for nine hours. He couldn’t exactly drop him off at a daycare, either. He briefly contemplated drugging him, then realized that there were a variety things wrong with that plan.

Finally, Hide decided on calling up Touka-chan. If she had work today, she could probably ask someone to cover for her.

 

Touka took forever to pick up. Hide was just beginning to think about giving up when Touka answered.

“Why the fuck are you calling me at midnight?” Well, it was too late to back down now.

“Technically, it’s only eleven. Anyways, I was wondering if you could come over and watch over the boy tomorrow? I have to work, and-”

“I have to work, too,” Touka-chan interrupted.

“Yeah, but someone can cover for you. Even if I find someone to cover for me, I’ll still get yelled at. You know how my boss is,” Hide said, remembering that Touka-chan had worked at Big Girl not long ago. “I have no sick days left, either.”

There was an irritated sigh on the other end. “Well, I suppose I could have Yoriko-chan cover for me.” Yoriko-chan, if Hide remembered correctly, was Touka-chan’s girlfriend. He had seen her at Big Girl once or twice. “You owe me, though.”

“Thanks!” Hide let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Yeah, yeah. What time do I have to be there?”

“Will five work?” Five was around the time Hide left, so Kaneki wouldn’t be alone for very long, even if Hide was gone before Touka-chan got there.

“Yeah.” Touka-chan didn’t sound happy about it, but at the very least, she was coming.

“Thanks aga-” Touka-chan hung up, cutting him off. Hide sighed to himself, setting the alarm on his phone for three. It would give him enough time to wake up and get ready, and then with the remaining time, he could explain to Kaneki what was going on.

He snuggled a little deeper into the blanket, careful not to jostle Kaneki. It wasn’t that he enjoyed it or anything. He just didn’t want to risk waking him. That was what he told himself, anyways.

 

The shrill beeping of his alarm woke Hide. As soon as he was conscious, he stabbed at the ‘off’ button, hoping he hadn’t woken Kaneki. His hopes were in vain.

Kaneki was already sitting up, rubbing at his eyes. His hair was messy, suggesting that he had rolled around a lot. He let out a sleepy yawn, looking around in confusion. “Huh?” Either he was too tired to form sentences, or he just didn’t feel like it. Hide knew that feeling.

Hide untangled himself from the blanket, gently moving Kaneki, who was still leaning against him. “I have to get ready for work. You can go back to sleep.”

“Work?”

“Yeah. To earn money.” Hide was up and moving by now, searching for food. “You don’t need to worry, though. Touka-chan will be here soon, so you won’t be alone.”

“Oh.” Kaneki seemed a little disappointed. “How long?”

“Until I get back? It’s a nine-hour shift, and it takes an hour to get there, then an hour to get back, so... about eleven hours in all. I’ll be home around five.” Having found some Pop-Tarts in the back of the tiny cupboard located in the kitchen, Hide popped them into the toaster. Since Kaneki was up, he would probably need food. Even if he didn’t, a second Pop-Tart never hurt anyone.

“What do I do until then?” Kaneki managed to get the words out without struggling too much. He watched with interest, his gaze flicking from Hide to the toaster. He wasn’t sure what the silver object did, but it would be exciting to find out.

“I don’t know. Sleep, or watch a movie, or something. You’ll figure it out.” He grabbed some plates and pulled himself up onto the counter, waiting for the toaster to complete its designated mission.

Kaneki let out a tiny yelp when the Pop-Tarts shot up. Hide just laughed, quickly grabbing the pastries and setting them down on the plate. He hissed slightly as he made contact with them, but all in all, it wasn’t too bad. He held out one of the plates for Kaneki. “Want one?”

Kaneki took the plate, looking at it curiously. “This… Isn't ramen.”

“Nope. It’s called a Pop-Tart.” Hide took a bite, wincing as the heat seared his tongue. He couldn’t afford to wait, though, since he still had other things to do. “You might want to wait a sec for it to cool, though.”

Once Hide had finished the Pop-Tart, he set the plate in the sink and jumped down from the counter. “I have to shower now, but I’ll be out soon.”

“Shower?” Kaneki questioned, still staring at his Pop-Tart.

“It’s…” He really didn’t feel like explaining showering at the moment. “I’ll tell you later. You can eat that now, by the way,” he said, gesturing at Kaneki’s plate. With that, he hurried off to the bathroom, only stopping to grab his work clothes from his bedroom.

 

Hide walked back into the living room, still toweling off his hair. He glanced at Kaneki, who was sleeping peacefully on the couch, remote in hand. Some TV show was playing in the background. Hide had heard a little bit about it. It was about two brothers who fought demons and other scary creatures. A couple of work friends had suggested it to him, but he had never gotten around to watching it.

He glanced at the clock on his phone. It was 4:43, so that left him a little bit of time before he had to go. He sat down on the arm of the couch, so he didn’t have to move Kaneki. Kaneki had apparently put his plate away, which saved Hide a bit of work.

 

Hide jumped to his feet when he heard Touka-chan knock on the door. Well, he assumed it was Touka-chan, since no one else would be at his door this early. He was proven right when he opened the door.

“Kaneki’s over there,” he said, pointing at the couch, “and-”

“Kaneki?” Touka-chan questioned.

“That’s his name.”

“Ah. Right, do I have to do anything special for him?”

“Nah. Just make sure he doesn’t burn down the apartment. There’s food if you need any, you can mess with the TV if you like, and-”

“I get it, I get it. You can go now.”

“Thanks. Bye!” Hide rushed out of the apartment. Stopping to talk with Touka-chan had made him late. If there was no traffic it would be fine, but there was no way to predict accidents, or anything else that could hinder drivers.

 

Touka-chan had to shut and lock the door, since Hide had forgotten to. She turned to the messy apartment, taking in what few sights it had to offer. Her eyes landed on the lump on the couch, presumably Kaneki.

She wandered over to the couch, leaning over the back instead of sitting. She reached down and plucked the remote from Kaneki’s hand. “If I have to babysit you, then we watch my shows.” She muttered, not knowing or caring if Kaneki heard her. She knew things would probably get tough when Kaneki woke up, but she was prepared to deal with that.

Sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending is a bit weak, but oh well. The next chapter is gonna be better.
> 
> Updates may also slow down, since spring break is ending.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touka has to babysit someone who is technically older than she is by like a year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter!
> 
> Sorry it's so short, I'm gonna have kind of a busy day today and tomorrow, so I decided to post it now. Since it's in Touka's point of view, the honorific usage has changed a little bit.
> 
> Update times will be a little screwy, thanks to homework, school, and life in general. Sorry about that.

Touka wasn’t happy with having to stand while watching Game Of Thrones, but she dealt with it. Well, she tried to, anyways. Eventually, she got annoyed and decided to just move Kaneki-kun.

“Scoot over,” she grumbled to him, lifting up his head and sitting down. He sat up, looking around in confusion. It took him a moment to locate Touka, but when he did, he scooted rapidly away.

Touka just rolled her eyes. “Calm down, Kaneki-kun. It’s just me.”

“W-who?” Kaneki-kun grabbed the blanket, wrapping himself up in it, as if it could protect him from the strange woman.

“Touka. Touka Kirishima. Hide-kun told me about you, didn’t he?” He better have.

“Oh. Yeah.” He seemed to relax a little at the mention of Hide-kun.

“Yeah,” Touka agreed, reaching over and snatching the blanket. She ignored his protests. “Just take one of Hide’s hoodies.” Kaneki-kun seemed confused by this, so she elaborated. “One of these,” she said, gesturing at the one she was wearing. “There’s one right there.” She pointed at one that had been lazily thrown the arm of the couch, not far from where Kaneki-kun sat.

Kaneki-kun nodded as if he understood, picking it up. He didn’t put it on, though, just stared at it in confusion.

Touka sighed in exasperation. “You have to put it on,” she explained.

“Oh, right.” Kaneki-kun actually managed to get it on with minimal difficulty, possibly because he remembered how it had been done yesterday. “Like this, right?”

“Right,” Touka said, making a mental note to include that in her observation notes. She didn’t really need to keep any, since she was only watching Kaneki-kun for a brief period of time, but it felt wrong not to.

Kaneki-kun snuggled into the hoodie, apparently proud of himself. It wasn’t exactly a big achievement, but it must have seemed monumental to him.

 

They sat there like that for a while, Touka watching Game Of Thrones and Kaneki-kun just generally observing everything around him, until Kaneki-kun decided he was bored. Touka just shrugged when he announced this, not really paying the least bit of attention. “Just find something to do,” she had said.

Kaneki-kun hadn’t accepted that answer. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. Find something.”

“Like what?” Kaneki-kun persisted.

They went back and forth for a couple minutes until Touka got sick of it. She paused the TV and stormed off, snapping at Kaneki-kun to wait there.

 

When Touka came back, she was holding a small yellow ball. It had a smiley face painted onto it. She handed it to Kaneki. “It bounces off of whatever surface you throw it at,” she explained. Then, thinking ahead, she added, “don’t throw it at anything other than the wall or the floor, okay?”

Kaneki-kun nodded and walked over to another part of the room to play with the toy. Satisfied with herself, Touka unpaused the TV.

 

An hour later, she began to regret her decision. The rhythmic bouncing of the ball was incredibly annoying. Still, she managed to tolerate it for another half hour or so before getting completely fed up. She stormed over to where Kaneki-kun was playing and snatched the ball out of the air before it could hit the wall again.

Kaneki-kun stared at her. Looking at the betrayal evident on his face, Touka almost felt like giving the ball back. Almost.

“Go find something else,” she snapped, shoving the bouncy ball into her pocket and flinging herself over the back of the couch.

“Like what?”

Touka was _not_ going through this again. “I don’t care.” She unpaused the TV, snuggling back into her stolen blanket. Kaneki-kun left, hunting for some other source of entertainment.

It took Touka a second to realize what she had just done. “Shit!” She yelled, pausing the TV and springing from her seat. “Kaneki-kun, wait!”

The silence of the apartment unnerved her. She dashed around, checking everywhere he could be, to no avail. Her heart leapt into her throat. If Kaneki-kun had hurt himself somehow… Well, the entire experiment would be useless. Yoshimura-san would kill her, if Hide-kun didn’t first. Besides, she would never admit it, but it would sadden her, too. She had worked on this experiment for just as long as everybody else, and Kaneki-kun was easy to be around.

She skidded to a stop at Hide-kun’s bedroom. The door was halfway open. She pushed it open carefully, fearing the worst…

 

And was relieved to see Kaneki-kun sitting on the floor, fiddling with a 3DS that probably belonged to Hide-kun, completely uninjured. “You idiot!” She snapped, storming inside. “Do you realize how worried you had me?”

Kaneki-kun flinched, looking up from the screen. “S-sorry?”

Touka instantly felt bad. It wasn’t Kaneki-kun’s fault she had let him wander around the apartment unattended. She lowered her voice a little. “It’s fine. So, what exactly are you doing?” She asked, sitting down beside him.

“I don’t really know,” he admitted, showing her the screen. He was on the menu, aimlessly scrolling through Hide-kun’s folders. He was squinting at the names, but didn’t click on anything.

“Do you know how to read?” Touka asked, realizing that that was probably why he hadn’t clicked on anything yet. Kaneki-kun shook his head. She sighed, gently taking the 3DS and setting it on Hide-kun’s unmade bed. “I’ll teach you.”

 

Kaneki-kun learned remarkably fast, although the process was slowed down slightly, due to Touka not being a very good teacher. She tried, of course, but her short temper made it difficult.

When Kaneki-kun knew how to read well enough, Touka decided that he should learn from a variety of sources, and also because she knew his reactions would be hilarious. Seeing him pester Hide-kun would be a plus, too, since he had dumped babysitting on her.

With that in mind, she hunted for Hide-kun’s laptop.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Touka does a bad thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be the last update for a while. It turned out I had a little time, and I was feeling productive, so I was able to type up another chapter, but I'll probably spend most of Monday sleeping, so the next update may not be until Saturday (or possibly some random weekday).

Touka finally found the laptop, buried under the blankets on Hide’s bed. He must have been up late, doing whatever it was he did on the internet. She brought it over to Kaneki-kun, who had found a puzzle lying around somewhere and was currently trying to piece it together. He sat on the floor, hunched over it. From the amount of pieces scattered on the floor, it was a pretty large puzzle. She flopped down on the couch, careful not to step on anything.

Kaneki-kun didn’t bother looking up. Whatever a laptop was, it didn’t sound that interesting. He had finished every corner piece except one, and was now searching for the last. His focus was entirely on this one goal, which probably was in vain, since Touka knew for a fact that Hide-kun tended to lose puzzle pieces a lot.

“Do you have any idea what his password is?” She asked, opening the laptop and pressing the power button. It loaded quickly, and she was left staring cluelessly at the login screen.

Kaneki-kun shrugged, not really paying any attention. He had abandoned the thought of the corner piece for now, and was focusing on creating as many random matches as he could. Touka watched in amusement for a short bit before returning her attention to the computer.

“Let’s try…” On a whim, she typed in one she thought might work. To her surprise and slight annoyance, it worked. “Of course,” she mumbled.

“What was it?”

“It wasn’t very original.” Touka hesitated. If she told him, he would have access to everything Hide-kun wanted to keep hidden. After realizing that that was sort of what she wanted, she told him. “It was ‘uptownfunkyouup’. All lowercase, no spaces.”

Kaneki-kun tilted his head, finally looking up at her.

“It’s a song,” she explained. “A very annoying, catchy song that I’ve caught him singing once or twice.” She pulled herself into a sitting position and patted the seat beside her. “Come on. I’ll show you how this works.”

“But my puzzle…” Kaneki-kun trailed off, staring forlornly at the scattered pieces. He had managed to piece together an impressive amount, at least for the amount of time he had had to work with.

“You can finish it later,” Touka said, now slightly impatient. She wanted to get the ball rolling before Hide-kun got home.

Kaneki-kun sighed dramatically and stood up, sitting beside her. Although he still kept his distance, he did lean in close enough to see the screen, which Touka counted as a win.

At the moment, there wasn’t really anything for Kaneki-kun to see, save for Hide-kun’s wallpaper. Hide-kun seemed to change it on a daily basis. Today it advertised some game Touka didn’t recognize, which was pretty impressive, since Touka knew a lot of video games.

And so, Touka began to explain the Internet to Kaneki-kun.

 

Half an hour later, Kaneki-kun was aimlessly scrolling through the Tumblr account Touka had helped him set up, looking for blogs to explore. Occasionally he would get up and ask her a question, until she snapped at him and told him that that was what Google was for, mostly because she was uncomfortable having to be the one to explain these things to him. That, and because he kept interrupting Game Of Thrones.

Kaneki-kun found the concept of Google fascinating.

 

(POV change)

 

When Hide came home, he found Kaneki laying on the floor messing with the laptop, and Touka-chan sprawled out on the couch, snoring, with the TV still playing in the background. He decided not to wake Touka-chan, since the result would be similar to what would happen if you poked a bear. Besides, it was nice to see her when she wasn’t scowling.

“I’m home,” he announced, careful to keep his voice lowered.

Kaneki turned to look at him. All of a sudden, he sprang to his feet, leaving the laptop open. He nearly tripped over the incomplete puzzle, but managed to make it over to Hide. “You’re back!”

“Yeah. Is that my hoodie you’re wearing?”

Kaneki shrugged, looking back at Touka-chan. “I was cold.”

“There’s a blanket over there,” Hide said, confused.

“Touka-chan needed it,” Kaneki explained. “I-I can give the hoodie back if you want.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Hide said hurriedly. “If you’re cold, you can keep it. It’s a spare, anyways.” He chose to omit the fact that Kaneki looked rather cute wearing his clothes. He peered around Kaneki, spotting the laptop on the floor. “Isn’t that mine?”

“Huh? Yeah,” Kaneki said, looking back at it. “Touka-chan said I could use it.”

“...She let you onto the Internet?”

“Y-yeah…”

Hide sighed, setting his bag down. “I’m gonna kill her la- wait, how did she know my password?”

“She guessed it, since she said she had heard you sing the song a lot.”

“Oh.” At the time, it had seemed like a genius password. Although, now that he thought about it…

“C-can I keep using it? I-I’m learning a lot, and that’d be good for your notes, right?” He stuttered more in this sentence then he usually did. Maybe it was because he hadn’t tried to say one of this length before, or because he was afraid it might be a sore subject.

“I guess,” Hide knew this was probably a bad idea, but depriving Kaneki of the Internet now wouldn’t do any good. He’d probably find a way to get more access to it. “But don’t mess with any of my files, okay?”

“Okay,” Kaneki said, nodding obediently. He had a dead serious look on his face.

“Good. Hey, um, do you remember Yoshimura-san? From yesterday?" As he talked, Hide started to unpack his things.

“The old one?”

Hide laughed. “Yeah, him. We’re going to go see him on Tuesday, so he can see how you’re doing.”

“Tuesday?”

“Two days from now.” This was, of course, useless, since Kaneki didn’t know how to tell time. Realizing this, Hide added, “I’ll tell you when.”

“Okay. Hey, have you seen a puzzle piece laying around?”

Assuming that Kaneki didn’t mean the puzzle pieces scattered on the floor near where he had been laying, Hide shook his head. “Sorry, I haven’t - oh, do you mean this?”

He bent down, picking up a piece near his foot. It looked like a corner piece. “Yes!” Kaneki snatched the piece away from him and returned to the puzzle he had worked so hard on. Hide laughed, a little confused, and left to change. He didn’t want to wear his work clothes any longer than he had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon: Touka is a closet nerd.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaneki discovers horrifying things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suddenly had an idea so here you go

When Hide finished changing, he came back into the room. Kaneki noticed him and stood up, carrying the laptop over to him. His nose was bleeding slightly, nothing more than a slow trickle. “I have a question,” he said, turning the screen towards Hide. “Is this really where that thing is supposed to go?” He looked both horrified and a little bit fascinated.

Hide leaned in to see whatever it was Kaneki was reading. It was a particularly X-rated story. He shuddered, taking the laptop from Kaneki and closing it. “I think that’s enough Internet for today. Let’s…” He thought a for a moment, trying to think of something that would keep Kaneki occupied for hours. “Let’s go to the bookstore.”

Kaneki looked delighted by this sudden development. “Right now?”

“Yeah. Well, in just a minute, anyways,” Hide said, taking a deeper look at Kaneki’s red eye. While he didn’t care much about it, others might find it creepy, and he couldn’t really explain it to them. “I just need to grab something first.”

Kaneki walked over to the clock connected to the TV and sat down in front of it, staring at it intently.

 

Hide finally found what he was looking after searching through several piles of the junk in his room, some of which he couldn’t remember acquiring. He picked it up, smiling slightly, and brought it back to Kaneki.

 

“That took longer than a minute,” Kaneki said, looking up from where he was sitting with Touka-chan on the couch. Touka-chan had apparently woken up, but didn’t look too happy about it. She hadn’t even brushed out her bedhead.

They were watching Game Of Thrones. Well, Touka-chan was watching, while Kaneki stared impatiently at the clock. “Sorry about that!” Hide said cheerfully, not bothering to explain to him that it was only an expression. “Here.” He handed the object to Kaneki.

Kaneki did nothing, other than stare at it. “What is it?”

“It’s an eyepatch,” Hide explained. “People might get a little freaked out about your eye, so I wanted to cover it, just in case.”

Touka-chan glanced over at them. “Are you guys going somewhere?”

“Bookstore.” Hide had to put the eyepatch on for Kaneki, since Kaneki was clearly struggling with it. He stepped back, admiring his handiwork. Kaneki looked extremely cute with the eyepatch, if he did say so himself. “Wanna come?”

Touka-chan stood up, grabbing her bag. “I guess. Why do you have an eyepatch, anyways?”

“Cosplay.”

She snorted. “Nerd.”

“Touka-chan, you were with me that time.”

 

Kaneki gazed at the world around him in wonder. He would’ve stopped completely if it hadn’t been for Hide, who gently reminded him to keep moving. They piled into the car, Touka-chan claiming shotgun before Kaneki could.

Hide immediately plugged his iPod into the speaker, ignoring Touka’s complaints. “Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts her cakehole.” He said, shrugging. He pressed play, starting up Uptown Funk.

“Tell me you did not just quote Supernatural.”

“Don’t believe me? Just watch.”

“Hide, stop.” Touka-chan said, glaring.

Hide laughed. “Or what?”

Touka-chan sighed, hanging her head, and said, “Or I’ll uptown funk you up.”

“Admit it! You enjoy it!” He said, gently punching her shoulder. She smacked his hand.

“Never. Now drive, or the bookstore will be closed before we get there.”

Kaneki watched the interaction silently. He had to admit, the song was pretty catchy. He still preferred classical music, but it wasn’t _that_ bad.

 

Kaneki practically leaped out of the car when they arrived. Not just because of the excitement, but also because he still wasn’t used to cars. He gazed around excitedly, taking it all in with the one eye he could use. He also felt nervous, never having been around so many people before. Hide casually slung his arm around Kaneki’s shoulders, leading him inside the store.

The store was nicely decorated, with a cozy sort of feel. It was small, but packed with books. It also smelled strangely of coffee. Hide checked his watch. “It’s getting kinda late. I’m gonna go next door and grab a pizza. When you’re done in here, head out to the car. Touka-chan, watch him!”

“Again?” Touka-chan groaned, but she didn’t look all that mad. “Fine. But be quick.”

Hide saluted her and left.

 

Touka-chan wandered off to look for some book called ‘A Dance With Dragons’, telling Kaneki not to move. Kaneki nodded obediently and wandered through the section she had told him to wait in. He couldn’t decide what to get, but he knew he had to choose carefully. He probably wouldn’t be able to get very many books.

“If you’re looking for something different, I suggest ‘The Black Goat’s Egg’,” a voice said from behind him. Kaneki spun around, startled to see a man behind him. He was tall, with bright purple hair that looked like it would take hours to style. He was dressed casually, yet seemed to practically exude class. He looked only a few years older than Kaneki.

“It’s really quite a fresh take on old ideas,” the man continued, flashing Kaneki a charming smile. “I think a sophisticated person like you would enjoy it.”

“T-thanks,” Kaneki said, stammering more than usual. Something about the way this stranger talked to him was different than the way Hide or Touka-chan did. He wasn’t quite sure if he liked it. “This one?” He asked, turning to pull a book off of the shelf and showing it to the man.

“That’s the one.”

 

When Touka-chan came back, she saw Kaneki immersed in friendly conversation with the man, who Kaneki came to learn was named Tsukiyama Shuu. Unfortunately, she knew this man. She crossed the length between them quickly, grabbing Kaneki’s arm more harshly than she needed to. Kaneki had never seen such a scary look on her face. “We’re leaving now,” she growled. With that, she started to drag him away.

“Bye!” Kaneki said, waving his free arm at Tsukiyama-san. Tsukiyama-san waved back, not looking very surprised.

 

“Don’t you ever talk to that man again!” Touka-chan scolded Kaneki once they were outside of the store. “Actually, don’t talk to strangers at all! Got it?”

“O-okay?” Kaneki said, confused and a little bit scared. Was Tsukiyama-san secretly a criminal of some sort? He hadn’t seemed that way. Of course, Kaneki had never actually met a criminal, so he had nobody to compare him to, so maybe that was how criminals acted.

Touka-chan sighed. “I’m sorry for scaring you. He’s just - he’s not someone you wanna get involved with.”

“Okay.” Kaneki said, wholeheartedly trusting her judgement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely butchered Tsukiyama I'm sorry
> 
> EDIT: I'm going on a short hiatus, to complete schoolwork and stuff, along with some personal things. The next update will probably be at the end of the week (somewhere between the 17th and the 19th). Sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's pizza and questions about life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are all so patient I love it

Once they found Hide, they piled into the car and left. Touka-chan had plugged her MP3 Player in before Hide could, so her music was playing. Surprisingly, it was a rather large variety, the song currently on being “If I Die Young”. A rather surprising choice, considering the last song had been “Ten Tonne Skeleton”.

Kaneki leaned forward, looking at the two pizza boxes Touka-chan was forced to have in her lap, due to Hide driving. “That’s pizza?”

Hide nodded. “Yep! I wasn’t sure what to get, so one’s Meat Lover’s and the other’s Cheese.” As he spoke, he was subtly reaching over to change the song. He was hoping Touka-chan wouldn’t notice, since she seemed to be engrossed in her new book. No such luck.

“You could just say you didn’t like the song.” She said, without looking up.

“And you would change it?” Hide asked, incredulous.

Touka-chan snorted. “Of course not! Just relax. It’s over, anyways.” The lyrics were fading out as she spoke.

The next song, one any playlist would be incomplete without, was “Cherry Pie”. Touka-chan blushed crimson, slamming her hand down on the “Skip” button. The next song was one Hide didn’t recognize, something in Finnish.

Hide laughed. “I didn’t know you were into that kind of music, Touka-chan.”

“Shut up! It’s catchy!” Touka-chan snapped, turning up the volume. If anything could save her, it was the power of folk metal.

“So, I guess you could say it’s your ‘Uptown Funk’,” Hide said, winking. Kaneki sat there, confused by the exchange. Deciding not to question it, he leaned forward. “What’s this song called?” He asked, directing the question at Touka-chan. He wasn’t quite sure what the lyrics meant, but he liked the way the song sounded.

Touka-chan looked up from her book, as if pleased that someone in this car shared her music taste. “It’s called ‘Päät Pois Tai Hirteen. It’s by Korpiklaani.” She pronounced the name perfectly, much to her own surprise.

 

When they arrived at Hide’s apartment, they all hurried inside, eager to eat the pizza before it cooled. Touka-chan and Kaneki had to carry most of the bags/boxes, so Hide could have his hands free to unlock the door. That was Hide’s excuse, anyways.

Hide closed the door, then realized Touka-chan was still there. “Aren’t you going?” He asked, then realized that it sounded a little rude.

Touka-chan shrugged, not seeming to take any offense. “You made me babysit, and pay for Kaneki-kun’s books. I’m eating the pizza.”

“Fair enough. Wanna watch a movie?”

“Hell yeah!”

 

Soon enough, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” had been popped into the DvD player. Touka-chan had taken up the entire couch once more, forcing Hide and Kaneki to be on the floor. Kaneki didn’t seem to mind, since that was where the laptop was.

 

A little ways into the movie, Hide noticed that Kaneki looked a little upset. He was frowning as he read something. Hide nudged him. “Something wrong?”

Kaneki shook his head. “It’s just… This article says artificial life can’t ever really be human.” He looked up at Hide with imploring eyes. “And what if I can’t?”

Hide rolled over, so that he was on top of Kaneki. He was careful not to hurt the shorter boy.

“Hide, you’re crushing me,” Kaneki complained, struggling underneath Hide. “And I will continue to do so until you learn some self-worth,” Hide said firmly. With a sudden burst of emotion, he kissed Kaneki’s forehead. “Obviously whoever wrote that article doesn’t know what they’re talking about. You’re just as human as Touka-chan is, or I am, or, hell, even Nishio-sempai!” He grabbed the mouse, which Kaneki had abandoned, and x’ed out the article. “You don’t need to read lies. Now come on, you smell like you need a shower.” Hide stood up, pulling Kaneki to his feet. He wasn’t looking forward to having to teach Kaneki this, but it had to be done eventually.

“I’ll just stay here, then,” Touka-chan said, pulling the blanket tightly over herself. She didn’t feel like leaving at the moment. Leaving required not finishing the movie, and she would never dare to sin like that.

Showering was an awkward process. It included a lot of eye-covering, instructing through curtains, “Hide, what’s that thing?”, etc. It was not a fun process, at least not for Hide. Kaneki seemed amazed by the water.

 

After the shower, Kaneki borrowed more of Hide’s clothes. Hide decided that this was a good time to teach Kaneki how to use a washing machine, since Kaneki did need to know basic life skills (plus, it was laundry day, anyways).

 

Hide made sure the building’s laundry room was empty before starting to teach Kaneki. The less distractions, the better. After a few quick instructions, he hauled himself up on top of another machine and sat back to watch Kaneki. He got bored and started to listen to music, figuring that Kaneki had it handled.

After a while, he looked down and realized something. “Kaneki?” Kaneki looked up from the book he had brought down with him.

“Yeah?” “...Where are the whites?”

“In the machine.”

“And the darks?”

“Also in the machi- oh.”

Hide sighed. He couldn’t really get mad at Kaneki. “It’s fine. I guess I’ll just be wearing pink for a while.”

“Okay. Also, was I supposed to take that pen in one of the pockets out?”

 

By the time they got back upstairs, the movie was ending, and Touka-chan was grabbing some of her things, including a couple of pizza slices for the road.

“You’re pet-sitting tomorrow,” Touka-chan said, turning the TV off.

“I thought Loser was Hinami-chan’s.”

“He is. This is a different pet. Yoriko-chan found a puppy and insisted on keeping it. Normally there’s someone to watch her, but everyone’s busy. Besides, you owe me.”

“Wait-”

“Her name’s Olivia. Don’t let her eat marshmallows. Feed her when you get there and before you go. Be there by four. Bye!” With that, Touka-chan opened the door, then turned and added, “AM, I mean.”

"Why four?" Hide whispered. "And why Olivia?"

But there was no one to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I type these in Google Docs, and they appear longer there, so sorry about the continuous short lengths.
> 
> I kind of watered down the shower part, so sorry about that. I wasn't sure how to write it, so I left it to your guys' imaginations (*shudders*).
> 
> I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I'll try to make it soon.
> 
> *It may not even be Sunday anymore for some of you, depending on timezones and shit. Sorry about that.
> 
> **In case you didn't know, Cherry Pie is a song commonly played in strip clubs. It was featured in an episode of Supernatural.
> 
> ***Idek if Olivia is a weird name for a dog, but it's the name of my mom's, so...


	7. [official story hiatus announcement]

omg i'm such an asshole i'm so sorry

and i should've posted this months ago but anyways

so, i don't have a lot of muse for this story rn, as you've probably guessed. i also briefly lost my password but that's irrelevant now. i have a lot of home stuff going on, and school is in session, so everything's hectic over here.

my entire account is not on hiatus -- you can expect a new story either tonight or tomorrow, if my laptop will comply [since it tends to throw fits and delete my work]. it's a surprise sort of thing based on a video game/manga that i've recently gotten into. it'll probably be more of a free time thing, so don't expect too frequent updates, but i will add new chapters whenever possible.

i don't know if this particular story will ever get up and running again, but i'll try my best [and thanks to one of my friends, i can now make all the sciencey stuff realistic!].

and honestly, thank you guys so much for your support. so many comments and kudos -- it's making my head spin!


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